Joey or Thurston, who is GOAT?

I’m not saying he was a bad player, in fact he was brilliant in his heyday. However Lockyer and Slater are considered 2 of the all time greats. In 40-50 years time they will still be talked about as such. They dominated the league for 12-15 years. He was in the top echelon for 4-5.

Comparing Mini to them is unfair to him IMO. He was a strong runner but didn’t have the finess of those 2. I thought of him as more of a finisher as opposed to someone who would create something out of nothing. I also saw Mini have some absolute Cariages. Anyone remember his first half in SOO 3 2011? He nearly single handedly handed QLD a 24-0 lead.

Brasher was an amazing player who was unlucky to have played in dogshit teams for 90% of his career, however when it came to NSW and Australia he was able to show just how great he was. There was a time when he was the only NSW player in the Australian backline. I saw both Brasher and Gary Jacks careers and I hold Brash comfortably ahead of Jimmy. Jack was just lucky to play in better teams.

As said Mini was a fine player but off the top of my head from the last 30 years I would rate Brasher, Ettinghoussen, Lockyer, Slater, Hayne and Brett Stewart ahead of him. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to say Tedesco is already a better player then he was. Maybe if injuries were kinder to him this would have been different.

If you don’t think Brasher was one of the best fullbacks of modern times you’re either under 30 years old or an idiot. As said IMO he was better then Gary Jack who before Slater came along was considered by many the best fullback since Churchill.

Hayne may well be a lot of things however he won 2 Dally Ms and single handedly a) won an Origin Series against the greatest Origin side of all time b) took a wooden spoon standard side to a Grand Final

If Brasher played for Canberra/Brisbane during the 90s he would be talked about a lot more today. It’s just unfortunate that 12 of his 14 seasons in first grade were for teams that didn’t play finals. He still managed to play for NSW 21 times and Australia 16 despite this.

If Brasher played for Canberra/Brisbane during the 90s he would be talked about a lot more today. It’s just unfortunate that 12 of his 14 seasons in first grade were for teams that didn’t play finals. He still managed to play for NSW 21 times and Australia 16 despite this.

If you don’t think Brasher was one of the best fullbacks of modern times you’re either under 30 years old or an idiot. As said IMO he was better then Gary Jack who before Slater came along was considered by many the best fullback since Churchill.

Hayne may well be a lot of things however he won 2 Dally Ms and single handedly a) won an Origin Series against the greatest Origin side of all time b) took a wooden spoon standard side to a Grand Final

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There isn’t a single facet of the sport Brasher was Minichiello’s superior in. Not one.

As for Hayne, didn’t you knock Minichiello down in an earlier post for falling out of the top echelon after four or five seasons (which you ignored was due to a crippling injury)?

Before he left Hayne was one of the comps most dangerous players. He was always high up in line breaks, meters gained, tackle breaks etc

He just played for a shit team

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That’s fair, & I think we’ve all wondered at one point or another what would happen if Hayne & Slater switched clubs for their entire careers.

Nevertheless, Hayne was slower than Minichiello, not as strong a defender on his line (though still very good here), & more a guy who needed space to cut teams apart - Minichiello simply busted the tackles in front of him.

tbh, JT was always a 6 in my eyes but due to Lockyer at origin level and NQ not being able to produce its own #7, he had to play 7 for a lot of his career when he should have been out wider an extra pass off the ruck.

Johns was better at front on defence being more solid in physical stature, JT had a bigger motor and could cover tackle all day long being that he was slighter in build.

at the end of the day, they’ll both be immortals, both have won 2 GF rings and both were a complete pleasure to watch their entire career. They’ve also brought a shit tin of happiness to their respective fan bases and towns.

tbh, JT was always a 6 in my eyes but due to Lockyer at origin level and NQ not being able to produce its own #7, he had to play 7 for a lot of his career when he should have been out wider an extra pass off the ruck.

Johns was better at front on defence being more solid in physical stature, JT had a bigger motor and could cover tackle all day long being that he was slighter in build.

at the end of the day, they’ll both be immortals, both have won 2 GF rings and both were a complete pleasure to watch their entire career. They’ve also brought a shit tin of happiness to their respective fan bases and towns.

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Agreed Thurston was a 6 to me as well, although not many seem to concur.

Thurston kicked the Broncos into a Grand Final Loss. That’s a better memory than Johns ever gave me, including Origin ‘05

at the end of the day, they’ll both be immortals, both have won 2 GF rings and both were a complete pleasure to watch their entire career. They’ve also brought a shit tin of happiness to their respective fan bases and towns.

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I see what you did there

Technically yes, they both have two rings; though the weighting of one of JTs might not quite hold up to Joey's.

Technically yes, they both have two rings; though the weighting of one of JTs might not quite hold up to Joey's.

But yes, both stone cold Immortals and deservedly so.

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Taints on both of their first, IMO.

I know it’s virtually illegal to mention this, being that it doesn’t fit the, ‘heroic son of coal miners come good’ narrative, but that 1997 Knights team were using PED’s & should have been stripped of the title.

Thurston was part of an illegally assembled football team (disgraceful they were able to stay together, much less add Andrew Ryan), & even then, they needed an abysmal call by Tim Mander to win them the match.

I know it’s virtually illegal to mention this, being that it doesn’t fit the, ‘heroic son of coal miners come good’ narrative, but that 1997 Knights team were using PED’s & should have been stripped of the title.

Thurston was part of an illegally assembled football team (disgraceful they were able to stay together, much less add Andrew Ryan), & even then, they needed an abysmal call by Tim Mander to win them the match.